Remembering the things we thought we knew

“Global decline in male fertility linked to common pesticides,” declares a new study. Which, well, I mean, right? Is that all that surprising? I know there’s a lot of politics and a priori contention around this topic, but really, is this that big of a leap? Spraying a bunch of bug-killing synthetic industrial chemicals on food, and then eating that food, is bad for you? Eating the toxic chemicals might negatively affect one of the most sensitive and delicate parts of your physiology? Is that really some kind of twist ending? Or is it just really, really predictable? Like imagine just holding a big can of pesticides, just looking at it, turning the can over in your hands and reading the label. Imagine concluding: “Hey, I think nothing bad will happen if I ingest this stuff.” That’s the leap!

I like to think about this stuff in the context of future reflection. What I mean by that is this: Imagine a group of friends hanging out in, say, the year 2300. They might be discussing what life was like for us plebes in the early 21st century. One of them might say: “Oh yeah, back then they used to, like, take these toxic chemicals used to kill bugs, and, like, spray them on their food sources. Just like totally inundate their tomatoes and grapes and eggplants and cucumbers with toxic, bug-killing synthetic compounds And then they’d eat the vegetables they’d sprayed this stuff on! And it took them decades to finally figure out that it was really bad for you. Isn’t that crazy??” Then everyone would laugh and agree that it was indeed crazy—the same way we presently agree that it was insane that we used to give kids toothache drops made with literal cocaine.

Well, you don’t know what you don’t know, and it can be hard to discern this stuff in the present moment. Sort of. Maybe it’s not that hard. How hard can it be to conclude that it’s bad to eat poison chemicals? I don’t think it’s that difficult. We eat well over here at the Morris Elder household; by that I mean we go out of our way to get as many chemical-free food as we possibly can. We have to sacrifice a good bit to eat that well; it is not at all the cheapest option and not everyone can get there. And we’re not 100% on it. Obviously it’s much better to eat a “conventional” meal than it is to eat nothing at all. But regardless of what one can, or can’t do—or will or won’t do—I’m just kind of baffled to see how this isn’t a pretty obvious outcome either way.

But that’s how it’s consistently been throughout much of human history. We had those cocaine tooth drops; we also used to smoke in maternity wards. I mean the doctors smoked and the mothers smoked too, even while in labor—everybody smoked, just everywhere, just relentless cigarette smoke in every conceivable human space. We used to put “trans fats” in everything, and everybody said that was a great idea until it turned out trans fats were murdering people left and right. The municipal authorities used to send guys speeding through your neighborhood spraying DDT up and down the streets, just blasting your neighborhood with insecticide fog, and parents would let their kids gleefully run in the toxic spray—like it was some kind of a game, running through a poisonous mist! We shake our heads and laugh at all of this now but back then there was just nothing to any of it. Nobody cared. Nobody ever seems to care until a few decades have passed and the pretty predictable results start manifesting.

Just the same…it shouldn’t be this hard, right? We should be able to call some of this stuff earlier than we do. For some reason we usually stand around shrugging and shaking our heads over this stuff for years before anyone gets wise. And I just don’t think that’s necessary. I think we can use common sense here. Yes, it’s bad to eat pesticides—it’s bad to eat chemicals designed to kill living things. If you ingest this stuff then almost certainly nothing good will happen to you. Don’t overthink this. And don’t overthink the next thing, either. If something seems off or odd to you, go with your gut. And start by wherever possible trying not to put poison chemicals into your gut. That’s a great place to begin!